The present disclosure relates generally to variable frequency electrical power conversion systems and more particularly to variable frequency drives (VFDs) and techniques for detecting faults in drive filter capacitors. Motor drives are electric power conversion systems that convert input power from a line-side source to a different form to provide controlled drive currents to the windings of an electric motor, where the output frequency is variable. VFDs typically include a passive or active rectifier with AC input power being rectified to create DC link power in an intermediate DC circuit. The intermediate DC power is fed to an output inverter which creates a variable frequency single or multi-phase AC output driving a motor load at a controlled speed and torque. VFDs often include filter circuits at the input and/or load output, including filter capacitors. Failure or other fault conditions in the filter capacitors can adversely affect the drive operation, and previous systems employed pressure relays to detect change in pressure inside the capacitor, or monitoring of three phase capacitor currents to detect capacitor failures. However, such techniques require extra components and increase the size, cost, and complexity of motor drives. Thus, there is a need for improved variable frequency drives by which the adverse effects of filter capacitor failure can be avoided or mitigated by detecting capacitor fault conditions without adding to the system cost and size.